William Williamson, Jr. '41

Lucky Bag

WILLIAM C. WILLIAMSON

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The title "A True Diplomat" fits this favored son of Philadelphia perfectly. He is at the running end of everything and knows everyone. The variety of his activities speaks for his versatility. On any Sunday evening he may be found on the rostrum, as chairman of the N. A. C. A. Then, leaving this, he presides over the Ring Committee. Next day he is sure to be found on some athletic field starring in soccer, playing golf, or starting a squash team. It is amazing that along with this he combines a prodigious amount of social activity.

Only after having visited his home can one know all Bill's attributes. Hospitality, charm, and a love of beauty are inherent in "Willie." Moreover, a love of the out-of-doors and all sports keep him in shape.

In the future Bill is bound to succeed, for in his dealings with people, he has a personality that overcomes all difficulties and warms his most ardent enemy.

The Class of 1941 was the first of the wartime-accelerated classes, graduating in February 1941.

WILLIAM C. WILLIAMSON

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The title "A True Diplomat" fits this favored son of Philadelphia perfectly. He is at the running end of everything and knows everyone. The variety of his activities speaks for his versatility. On any Sunday evening he may be found on the rostrum, as chairman of the N. A. C. A. Then, leaving this, he presides over the Ring Committee. Next day he is sure to be found on some athletic field starring in soccer, playing golf, or starting a squash team. It is amazing that along with this he combines a prodigious amount of social activity.

Only after having visited his home can one know all Bill's attributes. Hospitality, charm, and a love of beauty are inherent in "Willie." Moreover, a love of the out-of-doors and all sports keep him in shape.

In the future Bill is bound to succeed, for in his dealings with people, he has a personality that overcomes all difficulties and warms his most ardent enemy.

Loss and Tribute

At 5:14 p.m. on Aug. 24, 1942, a wave of 30 Japanese dive bombers launched an attack on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, part of an American naval force invading the Japanese-held Solomon Islands in the South Pacific, about 800 miles east of New Guinea.

While more than half of the Japanese planes were shot down by American fighter planes and anti-aircraft fire from the Enterprise, some got through and dropped their bombs.

The first bomb slammed into the flight deck, plunged through five decks and exploded, killing 35 sailors instantly and causing extensive damage. In the next two minutes, the ship was hit by a second bomb, which detonated and killed more men; and a then third bomb, which failed to explode but still resulted in casualties.

By the time the attackers were repulsed in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, 74 sailors on the Enterprise had been killed and 91 wounded. The dead were buried at sea.

One of the fatalities was a 23-year-old lieutenant from Philadelphia, William C. Williamson Jr., who had joined the Navy in 1941. Since 1956, an American flag in his memory has flown next to the former Swartzlander Community House at South Main Street and East Oakland Avenue in Doylestown.

“A new 30-foot aluminum flagpole, with the American flag attached, was erected yesterday on the lawn of the home, facing Main Street,” The Daily Intelligencer reported on Nov. 29, 1956. A bronze plaque was placed at the base of the pole, inscribed: “In memory of Lt. j.g. [junior grade] Wm. C. Williamson, U.S.N. Killed in action Aug. 24, 1942, on board U.S.S. Enterprise.”

The pole was donated by the late officer’s father, William C. Williamson, a retired banker living in Fountainville, according to the brief front-page article, which did not include comments from the donor or anyone else.

The elder Williamson, who died in 1976 at age 85, was a Navy veteran of World War I and II, according to his obituary in the Intelligencer. He lived in the Oak Lane section of Philadelphia in the early 1940s and later moved to West Wind Farm in Plumstead, although the obituary didn’t say when.

Williamson had been a board member of the Bucks County chapter of the American Red Cross, which for many years was located in the Swartzlander Community House.

Built around 1800 by Josiah Y. Shaw, the fieldstone dwelling in 1910 became the home and office of Dr. Joseph R. Swartzlander, who died in 1925. His widow, Rebecca Hart Swartzlander, died in 1947 and left the house to a trust for use by community organizations. The building was purchased in 2010 by Edison Court, which provides behavioral health services.

Jay Deppeler, a principal in Edison Court, said he didn’t know the story behind the flagpole and memorial plaque until now.

“That makes it even more special to me,” he said.

“I’m the keeper of the flag,” Deppeler added, making sure it’s in good condition and is lit by floodlights at night. “It’s labor of love and respect. I’m proud to be able to do it.”

Dan Fraley, director of the Bucks County Department of Military Affairs, said many World War II monuments in the county were erected by veterans’ organizations, but the flagpole represents a “nice tribute” from a private citizen.

“You’d expect a father to want to do something like that. He had the ability to do something and he did it,” Fraley said. It is fitting for Lt. Williamson to be honored in Doylestown even if he wasn’t from Bucks County,

“It doesn’t make any difference. When someone is killed in action, people don’t care where he’s from,” he said.

Despite the casualties and damage aboard the Enterprise, the U.S. Navy defeated the Japanese forces in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons.

The Enterprise was repaired at Pearl Harbor and returned to duty, participating in Pacific naval campaigns until it was damaged by a Japanese kamikaze attack in May 1945. The carrier, affectionately called the “Big E,” was the most decorated ship of the Second World War.

After the war, the Enterprise was decommissioned. In 1958, she was sold for scrap.

He had only reported aboard three days earlier, on August 21, 1942.

In addition to the one above, has another memory marker in Pennsylvania. His parents were listed as next of kin.

Navy Directories & Officer Registers

The "Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps" was published annually from 1815 through at least the 1970s; it provided rank, command or station, and occasionally billet until the beginning of World War II when command/station was no longer included. Scanned copies were reviewed and data entered from the mid-1840s through 1922, when more-frequent Navy Directories were available.

The Navy Directory was a publication that provided information on the command, billet, and rank of every active and retired naval officer. Single editions have been found online from January 1915 and March 1918, and then from three to six editions per year from 1923 through 1940; the final edition is from April 1941.

The entries in both series of documents are sometimes cryptic and confusing. They are often inconsistent, even within an edition, with the name of commands; this is especially true for aviation squadrons in the 1920s and early 1930s.

Alumni listed at the same command may or may not have had significant interactions; they could have shared a stateroom or workspace, stood many hours of watch together… or, especially at the larger commands, they might not have known each other at all. The information provides the opportunity to draw connections that are otherwise invisible, though, and gives a fuller view of the professional experiences of these alumni in Memorial Hall.